Actually, I believe this is a big win for progressives and for gay journalists and commentators as well. We drew out the conservative leaders in addition to Fischer, like Family Research Council's Tony Perkins, Gary Bauer and other commentators on National Review and Daily Caller, by bringing forth and continually highlighting the true facts about Grenell, which, to most Americans, are completely acceptable, but which, in the eyes of the evangelical right, make him a radical homosexual. As I wrote in a post last week, Grenell isn't just gay, like some other gay Republicans who stay quiet about their homosexuality. He's a gay man who very publicly expressed that he wants to get married to another man and who believes President Obama isn't adequate on LGBT rights.

Why is it that a win? Because Grenell was being used for cover by a candidate with abhorrently antigay positions, a man who has promised to "propose and promote" a federal marriage amendment if elected president. I don't buy the argument made by some that it was a measure of progress that Romney hired a gay man as his foreign policy spokesperson when he's using that gay man to make himself appear moderate to independents while he's promising the GOP base that he'll make gay people into second class citizens. Actual progress in the GOP will come when their presidential candidates stop bowing to bigots and refuse to sign their extremist pledges. Otherwise, it's all window dressing.

This entire fiasco presents a hard truth to our media, which seems to want to think otherwise: Mitt Romney is anti-gay, no matter what he supposedly truly believes (and can we please not forget he's a devout Mormon?). He can't be anything else and keep the support of his party because the chasm that separates the GOP base from the rest of America is now bigger than the Grand Canyon.

AFA spokeshater Bryan Fischer was giddy with excitement today over the resignation of gay Romney spokesman Richard Grenell, Right Wing Watch reports, calling it a "huge win" for the "pro-family" community .

"From the moment Richard Grennell signed on as Mitt Romney's Foreign Policy and National Security Spokesman, he faced a torrent of unfounded criticism from the far right. Not once did the Romney campaign condemn these attacks and support Grennell. Mitt Romney capitulating to the demands of extremist anti-gay groups is nothing new. He has donated to the rabidly anti-gay National Organization for Marriage and the Massachusetts Family Institute. He has even signed a NOM vow that binds him to appoint only anti-gay judges and establish a McCarthy-era commission to investigate the activities of those who support LGBT equality. The fact that Grennell is gone so quickly after a right-wing uproar is a troubling harbinger of the kind of power that anti-gay forces would have in a Romney White House."

“Ric made the choice that he feels is best for the Romney campaign, and I respect his decision. It is unfortunate that while the Romney campaign made it clear that Grenell being an openly gay man was a non-issue for the governor and his team, the hyper-partisan discussion of issues unrelated to Ric's national security qualifications threatened to compromise his effectiveness on the campaign trail. As a Bush Administration colleague of Ric, I can attest to his experience and qualifications in the national security portfolio. Ric was essentially hounded by the far right and far left. The Romney campaign has lost a well-known advocate of conservative ideas and a talented spokesman, and I am certain he will remain an active voice for a confident U.S. foreign policy.”

I have decided to resign from the Romney campaign as the Foreign Policy and National Security Spokesman. While I welcomed the challenge to confront President Obama’s foreign policy failures and weak leadership on the world stage, my ability to speak clearly and forcefully on the issues has been greatly diminished by the hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues that sometimes comes from a presidential campaign. I want to thank Governor Romney for his belief in me and my abilities and his clear message to me that being openly gay was a non-issue for him and his team.

Adds Rubin: "According to sources familiar with the situation, Grenell decided to resign after being kept under wraps during a time when national security issues, including the president’s ad concerning Osama bin Laden, had emerged front and center in the campaign."

The American Family Association's Bryan Fischer was among those leading the charge.

Argued Fischer in a CNN appearance: "Well, the point here is that personnel is policy. Everybody in D.C. says that. Personnel is policy. When Governor Romney picks somebody who is an activist homosexual and puts him in a prominent position, he’s sending a shout out, it seems to me, to the homosexual lobby."

A lot of people seem to think Mitt Romney's hiring of openly gay former UN ambassador Richard Grenell as his foreign policy spokesman marks a shift to the center for a Republican presidential candidate who so tenaciously courted the right.

"For Romney to have an openly gay spokesman is a real outreach to gay Republicans, a subtle signal to moderates, and the Santorum faction's reaction will be worth noting," said Andrew Sullivan.

Social conservative agree, but see the hiring as a harbinger of homosexual doom. Bryan Fischer from the rabidly anti-gay American Family Association described Grenell's placement as a "shout out to the homosexual lobby."

ABC News' Matt Negrin also argues that Romney's relationship with Grenell, who supports marriage equality, is a dog-whistle of sorts, and contends that it could lay the groundwork for a gay policy shift on Romney's part:

Grenell’s appointment also signaled that the Romney campaign had fully moved on from the primary in which the former Massachusetts governor vaulted to the right wing of his party to win conservative voters who were less likely to support gay rights.

In a general election, however, being open to gay rights could even help Romney win some independent voters – especially against a president who has been timid about outright support of gay marriage.

But that's only if Romney comes out for gay marriage, which he most probably won't, though it would be a potential game-changer for the election, especially since President Obama consistently claims he's "evolving" on the issue.

As for Grenell, I personally think Romney hired him for his qualifications, rather than for political calculus, and that other faux controversies will play a bigger role in voters' decision-making. Romney's massive wealth and "inadequate" $12 million California mansion, for one, turns off those who are struggling; that whole Etch-a-Sketch meme scares people who think Romney's a flip-flopper; and Seamus Romney's travel accommodations of course worry anyone who loves dogs, or common sense.

Fischer was asked to explain his campaign against Grenell, and was pushed into a corner by Kyra Phillips, who reminded Fischer that Grenell was also spokesman for UN ambassador John Bolton, whom Fischer praised as having done a "great job."

Argued Fischer: "Well, the point here is that personnel is policy. Everybody in D.C. says that. Personnel is policy. When Governor Romney picks somebody who is an activist homosexual and puts him in a prominent position, he’s sending a shout out, it seems to me, to the homosexual lobby."

...it was no surprise that Fischer dedicated a segment to discussing the issue today on his radio program, where he began by asserting that most gay men have hundreds, if not thousands, of "random, frequent, and anonymous sexual encounters and that becomes a significant issue when we're talking about appointing somebody to a post as sensitive as a spokesman for national security and foreign policy".

Fischer also demanded Romney explain his stance on homosexuality with regard to the LDS Church.